Free Republic

The fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region is entering its fifth year. More than 10,000 people have been killed in this persistent conflict; 2,800 were civilians. Nearly two million people have been internally displaced or put at risk if they remain in their homes. Yes, at first it was a skirmish between Ukrainian security forces and local separatist militias, bolstered by Russian mercenaries. But by late 2014, the fighting involved large numbers of troops including Russian army regulars, outfitted with armor and artillery. Today, the Donbas war is among the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with frequent attacks occurring...

Violent Russian thugs who attacked Liverpool fans in Ukraine have issued a stark warning to England supporters planning to attend the World Cup. Trouble Company, a notorious hooligan group, said fans traveling abroad will face 'hell' during the 2018 competition. The group's followers have released a string of messages on social media claiming responsibility for the violence in Kiev, which saw Brits hospitalised.

The Islamist rebels launched an attack on the largest Christian town in Syria this afternoon, following their failed offensive to capture Al-Zalaqiyat in northern Hama. According to a military source in Hama, the Islamist rebels of Jaysh Al-Izza fired several grad missiles and artillery shells at Mhardeh, targeting the town’s large power plant and several residential neighborhoods. Since this attack violated the cessation of hostilities agreement, the Russian military is likely to issue a powerful response, despite the fact that the Turkish troops are present in the area.

The U.S. government once wanted to plan false flag attacks with Soviet aircraft to justify war with the USSR or its allies, newly declassified documents surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy show. In a three-page memo, members of the National Security Council wrote, "There is a possibility that such aircraft could be used in a deception operation designed to confuse enemy planes in the air, to launch a surprise attack against enemy installations or in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack US or friendly installations to provide an excuse for U.S. intervention." The...

A Dutch-led international criminal investigation has concluded that the Buk missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014 came from Russia's 53rd Antiaircraft Missile Brigade. The Joint Investigative Team (JIT), comprising authorities from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Ukraine, made the announcement at a press conference on May 24 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. MH17 was shot down over the conflict zone in Ukraine's Donetsk region on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board. The JIT "has come to the conclusion that the Buk-TELAR that shot down MH17 came from the 53rd Antiaircraft Missile...

"...true Zionism involved emigration to Palestine, working with out own hands to 'redeem' and build up the country, and create there a model society based on social, economic and political equality...." "David Ben-Gurion Looks Back"-In talks with Moshe Pearlman published 1965 "For united we stand, divided we fall" As sung by "The Brotherhood of Man" (1970) Jeremy Corbyn, the socialist style Labor Party leader in the UK reminds me of what "Labor" and "Socialist" parties used to stand for. The people who work for a living were deserving of protection from big business and more communal way of living was...

Boris Johnson under pressure to explain whether position has changed after tweet blaming Moscow is deleted. Boris Johnson is facing embarrassing questions over his claims that Russia had produced the Salisbury nerve agent after it emerged that the Foreign Office had deleted a tweet blaming Moscow for the attack. With the foreign secretary already under pressure over his remarks two weeks ago that a Porton Down scientist had been “absolutely categorical” that the novichok had originated in the country, Jeremy Corbyn accused Johnson of “completely exceeding the information he had been given” after the emergence of the deleted tweet. But...

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group have been evacuated from an enclave in the southern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus, activists say. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a temporary ceasefire had come into effect following heavy bombardment by the Syrian military. ...army operations in the area were nearing their end and insurgent lines were collapsing. Al-Ikhbariya TV said a new plan is underway to storm IS-held areas in Hajar al-Aswad, near Yarmouk. The channel’s area correspondent said the coming hours would be “decisive” for restoring government control in Hajar al-Aswad, but didn’t mention Yarmouk. President...

Trump 'Committed' to Iran Regime Change, Giuliani Says Days Before Nuclear Deadline President's lawyer and confidant calls regime change 'only way to achieve Mideast peace and 'more important than an Israeli-Palestinian deal' ■ Rohani warns of 'historic' mistake Amir Tibon (Washington) May 06, 2018 8:31 AM WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump is "committed" to regime change in Iran, Trump's lawyer and confidant Rudy Giuliani said on Saturday. The unusual statement comes just days before Trump will have to make a dramatic decision on the fate of the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. Giuliani, the former New York City...

Soviet soldiers Sgt. Kantaria and Pvt. Yegorov of the 150th Rifle Division, 3rd Shock Army, raise the Sickle and Hammer flag of the Soviet Union atop the Reichstag in Berlin.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has evidence that Iranian officials were "brazenly lying" when they said Iran wasn't pursuing nuclear weapons and that the Islamic republic is keeping an "atomic archive" at a secret compound. "Tonight I'm here to tell you one thing: Iran lied -- big time," Netanyahu said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday revealed a cache of files he claims were obtained from Iran and prove Tehran ran a secret program to build nuclear weapons. Iranian leaders have long said their nuclear program was only for peaceful purposes. But Netanyahu on Monday revealed tens of thousands of pages of documents, which he said were copied from a "highly secret location" in Iran. He said the evidence provided "new and conclusive proof of the secret nuclear weapons program that Iran has been hiding for years from the international community in its secret atomic archive." His remarks come...

If Israel and Iran want to set new rules for the game played on the Syrian front, and if they would rather avoid all-out war, they should look back at the understandings reached between Israel and former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in Lebanon back in 1976. Both parties could stand to learn from what happened there.After the events of “Black September” in 1970, the PLO was expelled from Jordan, taking up residence in Lebanon. This led to a conflict with the Christian population, which appealed to the Syrian army for help. Long seeing themselves as the patrons of Lebanon, responsible...

The head of Baghdad's Central Criminal Court sentenced the women on Sunday The court said the women were found guilty of 'joining and supporting ISIS' Six women from Azerbaijan and four from Tajikistan were also given life in prison Iraq on Sunday sentenced 19 Russian women to life in prison for joining the Islamic State group, the latest in a series of heavy verdicts against foreign women linked to the jihadists. The head of Baghdad's Central Criminal Court, which deals with terrorism cases, said the women were found guilty of 'joining and supporting IS', according to an AFP journalist...

The hidden battle in Syria – the one that rarely appears on our television screens – has been raging for years between Israel and a coalition comprising the Syrian government, Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Watching over the proceedings without directly intervening has been Russia, although that might be about to change. The prize is control over Syrian territory but the battlefield is Syria’s skies.

Are Berlin’s close energy ties with Moscow paying off? Data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service shows they might be after Germany paid less for natural gas from the world’s largest exporter than most other buyers. Only the U.K., which produces most of its own gas, had lower import costs among the biggest offtakers, according to the figures obtained by Bloomberg and detailed in the chart below. Chancellor Angela Merkel has worked to strengthen the energy relationship with Russia, bucking U.S. pressure to punish Vladimir Putin’s interference in Syria and elections across the west. Germany has backed projects such as Gazprom...

Russia's new nuclear drone submarine could be capable of causing 300ft-high tsunamis, able to wipe out coastal cities, experts say. The existence of the drone, believed to be the Status-6 system - also known as 'Putin's doomsday machine' - was confirmed by the Russian President himself in his annual state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow last month. Experts say a 50 megaton underwater nuclear bomb would be able to create tsunami waves reaching more than 320ft - the 'Status-6' is allegedly able to carry a 100 megaton warhead.

WHISKY is back on the tables in Mosul, one of Iraq’s biggest cities. Until last year, boozing was punishable with 80 lashes...Families queue at restaurants on the banks of the Tigris. There is not a niqab, or face-veil, in sight....Now Iraq, home to nearly 40m people, is righting itself... About 45,000 Sunnis mustered alongside the Shia-led Hashd al-Shaabi, or “popular mobilisation units”. And millions of Sunnis fled the would-be caliphate to seek refuge in Kurdish and Shia cities. Religious minorities feel safer, too. Over 70% of the 100,000 Christians who fled to Kurdistan have returned to their homes on the...

On April 10, at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did something unusual during his usual weekly address to the deputies of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He suddenly paused during his address and called the national education minister, Ismet Yilmaz, to the podium. The two men then murmured for about half a minute in front of the huge audience. Muted microphones did not catch the whole conversation, but the minister was heard speaking about "the report on deism" and “the thoughts of our youth about this.” “No,” Erdogan was heard saying in a definitive tone. “That is wrong.”The report in...

Syrian government forces used warplanes, helicopters and artillery on Sunday to pound districts of the capital held by the Islamic State group, in a bid to enforce an evacuation deal reached with the militants earlier in the week. Two Palestinian refugees, a father and a son, were killed during the fighting at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, according to the United Nation’s Palestinian refugee agency, which added that thousands of homes have been destroyed in four days of fighting. Hundreds of IS militants hold parts of the Yarmouk camp and nearby area of Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus. They...